3D ray-tracing for intra-vehicle environments

In order to develop a wireless communication system that could be used for all types of aircraft sensor networks, the severe multipath channel found inside aircrafts must be well defined. This multipath channel is much more complex than usual outdoor/indoor channels and thus far, research has been limited to a basic stochastic model for the aircraft environment called hyper-Rayleigh [3]. This model has been useful for a general understanding of the aircraft environment; however, in preliminary simulations this model was not accurate enough to describe MIMO performance for a range of fading channels [7]. The next level of accuracy in modeling is site-specific modeling, also known as ray-tracing. Due to the 3-dimensional (3D) reflective surface of the fuselage, ray-tracing must be implemented in a 3D simulation in order to fully describe the aircraft environment.